Another power tariff hike on the cards

Following a recent massive increase of Rs4.85 a unit in electricity tariff, the Central Power Purchasing Agency-Guarantee Limited (CPPA-G) has again sought a huge tariff hike on account of fuel cost adjustment (FCA) for March 2022.

In a petition submitted to the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Tuesday, the CPPA-G proposed an increment of Rs3.16 per unit in electricity tariff on account of FCA for March.

According to details, the CPPA-G said that the reference fuel charges for consumers were Rs6.23 a unit in March while the actual fuel cost was Rs9.39 per unit.

“Therefore, it should be allowed to pass the increase of Rs3.16 a unit on to consumers.” Transmission losses were also high in March and stood at 2.94%, the petition highlighted. Total energy generation during the month increased to 10,418 gigawatt-hours (GWh) from 8,087 GWh in February. Total generation cost came in at Rs96.03 billion and the per-unit cost was calculated at Rs9.22 a unit.

CPPA-G data suggested that the net electricity delivered to the distribution companies (DISCOs) was 10,078.73 GWh at a cost of Rs94.61 billion, or Rs9.39 a unit. During March, the hydel power generation contributed 1,703.91 GWh to the national grid while the share of coal-based power generation was 2,586.62 GWh (or 24.83%) at a cost of Rs12.41 a unit.

The electricity generated from furnace oil during the month under review increased to 1,106.19 GWh (10.65%) from 526.73 GWh (6.51%) in February. The cost of residual fuel oil (RFO)-based electricity was Rs22.52 a unit. Electricity generation from gas-based power plants increased to 992.72 GWh in March from 918.4 GWh during the previous month. The cost of gas-based electricity was Rs7.79 per unit.

Re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG)-based electricity generation further increased to 1,965.68 GWh in March from 1,226.01 GWh in February. The cost of RLNG-based electricity was Rs14.37 a unit.

The generation by nuclear power plants was 1,563.66 GWh (15.01%) at Rs1.03 per unit. Electricity imports from Iran stood at 42.75 GWh at a cost of Rs17.35 a unit. Power generation from bagasse contributed 107.01 GWh during the month under review at Rs5.98 per unit.

Power generation from different sources (mixed) stood at 13.22 GWh at a cost of Rs4.83 a unit, while generation of wind and solar energy was recorded at 267.92 GWh and 68.73 GWh respectively.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 20^th, 2022.

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